


Local Cryptid??

by chlodobird



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bartender Dean Winchester, Comedy, Fix-It, Gen, POV Outsider, Post-Canon, Professor Sam Winchester, and then wrote a fic that took place after that imaginary finale, but only so its not shitty, essentially i pretended the finale was good, holy shit are we fixing things, only to get that sweet sweet outside POV, technically this is mostly about ocs but like, technically this is post fixit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:29:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27669569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chlodobird/pseuds/chlodobird
Summary: In an imaginary world where the finale was emotionally satisfying, Team Free Will got to grow old. Dean and Cas settle down and run a bar-slash-diner, and Sam decides to go back to school. Law just isn't his thing anymore, but with the amount of lore he knows, he figures he could make a pretty decent history or mythology teacher.Essentially, his weird knowledge and weirder family means that rumors spread. Local Man becomes College Campus Cryptid, more at 9
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Castiel & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 45
Kudos: 293





	Local Cryptid??

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i'm writing fucking SUPERNATURAL FICS????? what the fuck am i doing
> 
> I'm going to preface this by saying that this diverges at the end of episode 19. Jack still absorbs all of chuck's power, but he spits amara back out, resurrects Cas as a human along with all the people chuck killed in episode 18, and then works with Amara for a few weeks of earth time to rebuild heaven. he gives her all his power, returns to earth as (mostly) human, and she leaves to go rebuild the other universes. this takes place years later, where sam becomes a history and religion/mythology professor and marries Eileen, and dean runs a bar/diner with Cas. because fuck canon!

The first rumor began with a whispered comment.

At least half of HIST 4890: Ancient Religions was taking notes, but one girl was distracted by something more than how tired she was. She frowned, and said quietly to a friend, “Why does our professor have a knife in his bag?”

The top of the satchel had slipped down enough for the light to catch on the silvery knife, and her friend snapped a picture before they went back to taking notes on the religious structure of ancient Mesopotamia. That night, their study group met up, and within a day, the entire class of about two dozen students knew about the knife.

“I bet he’s just careful. Maybe he walks home through a sketchy neighborhood.”

“Maybe it’s an artefact for another class. It looked . . . weird.”

A week later, one sharp-eyed student met their professor during office hours, and came out with a tilted photo. Half of it was of his thumb, but the other half showed a tiny symbol painted onto the ceiling.

“I mean, he helped a lot with the essay, we all know he’s a great teacher, but something’s weird here.”

“I wonder if his other classes noticed anything?”

Simone created a Group Chat

Simone renamed the chat Local Cryptid??

Simone added Mark, Jenna, and 18 others to Local Cryptid??

**Simone:** Okay, guys, this is everyone in HIST 4890. So far, Jenna saw a knife and Maria got a pic of it, and Bryan got a picture of a weird symbol. I’m thinking Mr. Winchester is some kind of cryptid, who’s with me?

**Bryan:** my money’s on cult. 100%. I only got a pic of one symbol but once i was looking for them, they were all over

**Bryan:** officesymbol.jpg

**Maria:** no way, guys, he’s too smart to be in a cult, and cryptids dont teach at colleges. OBVIOUSLY he’s an ex-secret agent, hiding out under the cover of “unassuming college professor” to escape his dark past

**Andrew:** you watch to many spy thrillers, that shit doesn’t happen irl

**Maria:** how would YOU know?

**Leo:** omfg this is do dumb. He’s just a college professor. ur wasting ur time

Leo left Local Cryptid??

**Simone:** Chill out, guys, i’ll start making a list of possibilities. Does anyone know anyone in his other class?

**Morgan** : i do, hold up

Morgan added Taylor to Local Cryptid??

**Taylor:** ???????????

**Morgan:** prof winchester is weird. Scroll up for details

**Taylor:** OH

**Taylor:** i’m taking his class on the evolution of Christianity and we all think he’s lowkey immortal

**Taylor:** he keeps bringing in all these old ass books and artefacts

**Taylor:** ONE BOOK HAD BLOODSTAINS ON IT I STG

**Simone:** marking “immortal” down as a theory

**Pat:** got any pics of the book?

**Taylor:** hold up lemme add my class to the chat

  
Taylor added Elliot, Rose, and 14 others to Local Cryptid??

**Simone:** scroll up

**Elliot:** THANK GOD WE’RE NOT INSANE

**Rory:** here’s the book covered in blood he brought in

**Rory:** 1df3g5s1d3fg.jpg

**Taylor:** It’s super old looking, that’s why we were going with immortal, but you said he had a knife and weird symbols in his office? I’m liking the cult theory

**Rose:** i’m telling you, no one would know the specific details he does unless they were THERE

**Maria:** that’s just how academics be sometimes. I’m sticking with my spy theory

**Dora:** ok maybe i just binge watched the X-Files too recently but have we considered: aliens

**Simone:** no

**Bryan:** no

**Taylor:** no

**Pat:** no

**Dora:** damn ok fine

**Morgan:** but yeah, how does he find so many old artefacts???? He’s brought in, like, a figurine he said was used for curses in mesopotamia?? how does he know that? how the fuck does he HAVE that????? it would make sense if he was an immortal, or if he got it from his cult

**David:** sorry, just got here, but i’ve got a Winchester story too

**David:** i went to his office hours to talk about the artefacts of the Crusades, and before I knocked I heard him talking on the phone

**Taylor:** dave u nosy bitch

**David:** shut UP taylor do you want to hear what he said or not

**Taylor:** <3

**David:** anyway, I heard him say something something something “what’s Amara doing now?” and then he went quiet, and said “Good, apocalypse world deserves to be fixed up”

**Taylor:** bullshit

**David:** listen i KNOW i can’t prove it but it’s true!!!!!!!!!

**Simone:** what did they say after that?

**David:** mr winchester just started talking about how they were meeting for dinner that thursday and hung up pretty soon afterwards. He called the other person Dean??

**Mark:** apocalypse world?

**Mark:** OH MY MONEY’S ON HIM BEING A TIME TRAVELER

**Eliza:** dumbass, it’s apocalypse WORLD, not apocalypse FUTURE. He can like? Hop through different universes, or parallel universes maybe?

**Taylor:** whats the difference?

**Eliza:** u summon cthulu from a different universe. if you killed hitler, you’d create a  _ parallel _ universe

**Simone:** alright, so far we’ve got cryptid, cult, ex-secret agent (even though thats DUMB, Maria), immortal, aliens (also dumb), time travel, different universes, and parallel universes.

**Bryan:** damn, simone, you’re organized

**Simone:** i’ve got a list of our leads, too. We should break into his office sometime and see if he keeps anything interesting in his desk

**Bryan:** NO?????

**Morgan:** what?!?!?!

**Peter:** SIMONE NO

**Taylor:** hell, i’m in

**Morgan:** taylor what the fuck!

**Mark:** i don’t want to break into anywhere!

**Simone:** i’m BORED and this is the only interesting thing to happen in months ok i’m CURIOUS

**Simone:** plus, my sister taught me how to pick locks!

**Martha:** I don’t know you, but to be clear, you’re talking about breaking into the office that belongs to a man who carries knives, has books covered in blood, and might be part of a cult?

**Simone:** . . .

**Simone:** well when you put it like that, there’s plenty more time in the semester to collect evidence legally

**Simone:** but i am NOT leaving for Christmas without knowing what his deal is

A few weeks passed without incident, and the group chat stayed fairly quiet. Something had to give. Taylor was settling into her seat for Evolution of Christianity, and Professor Winchester began the class with a smile.

“My friend Father Castiel has joined us today to assist with the lecture on the Renaissance. He’s spent a lot of time studying history, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Taylor leaned forward and dug her phone out of her pocket. Under the guise of checking her notifications, she snapped a photo. Never knew what would come in handy.

Father Castiel lectured for about half the class, and Taylor frowned at some of his wording. No  _ way _ was this guy a priest. And who has a name like  _ Castiel _ ? He was part of the Winchester Conspiracy, she just knew it. There was something off about his mannerisms.

Still, who was she to judge? Plus, he talked about how Michelangelo was gay, so he was cool in her books.

After class, she followed him out. Maybe he was gay, and would have some more recommendations about gay historical figures to read about. “Father Castiel, about the stuff you said in class today. Are you, you know . . .” Taylor flapped her hand at him, but instead of saying yes or no, he looked alarmed.

“I have to go.”

What?

That didn’t make sense.

**Elliot:** so, for the people in the mesopotamia class, today he brought in a priest to talk to us about renaissance catholicism

**Elliot:** Father Castiel

**Rory:** I got a pic of him. Think Taylor did too, but idk

**Rory:** s4df6g5s1er3.jpg

**Peter:** wow priest guy is hot

**Morgan:** peter he’s a PRIEST

**Elliot:** no way is that guy a priest

**Taylor:** elliot’s right, he probably isn’t, but that’s not the weirdest part

**Taylor:** oh, yeah rory i did get a pic, here

**Taylor:** notapriest.jpg

**Simone:** don’t just leave us hanging!!!

**Taylor:** right, sorry. Ok so i caught up with him after class bc some of the stuff he said about michelangelo being gay made me curious about other gay historical figures, right? Well, I went to ask him if he was gay, and got as far as “Are you, y’know” and i did the hand thing and he freaked out and left

**Simone:** homophobic maybe?

**Taylor:** no, he was super chill about gay artists

**Taylor:** but whatever was going on there, he’s DEF part of the conspiracy, he has the same kind of weirdly specific knowledge as Sam, but EVEN MORE

**Taylor:** he talked about a cardinal and about a bunch of things that cardinal did and it was way too specific to be made up, except I looked it up and couldn’t find anything about him online except that he existed. No stories about what he did, nothing.

**Simone:** hmmmm immortals looking better and better

**Maria:** what if they’re vampires????????

**Morgan:** i thought you said secret agents

**Maria:** well, i changed my mind, why would a spy put up weird ass symbols in their office

**Peter:** AHA TOLD YOU SPY SHIT WAS DUMB

**Maria:** fuck off peter

Professor Winchester looked like someone had just died when he closed the door and began class, and Rory hated it. Had they all failed their papers? Flunked exams? Were they getting extra homework?

“Class, I’m sure there’s been rumors going around, so after talking with Castiel and my brother, I’m going to be honest with you. Yes, Cas is-”

“Gay?” Taylor said excitedly.

Professor Winchester looked shocked for a moment, and Rory squinted at him. Weird. Why would he be surprised if that was what he was going to say? Still, his teacher shook off his surprise quickly and continued. “He’s married to my brother, Dean. Sorry that he ran out like that, Taylor, but he grew up in . . . a very traditional household. He was probably surprised someone figured it out that quickly. Anyway, we’re continuing with the renaissance today, primarily focusing on how religion, and Catholicism in particular, affected trade.”

**Rory:** ok that was sus right?

**Taylor:** what was sus? I just feel bad for scaring that guy

**Simone:** what happened?????????????

**Rory:** prof winchester wanted to tell us something about that not-a-priest castiel

**Simone:** and????????

**Rory:** and taylor interrupted

**Simone:** and????????????????????????

**Rose:** rory you’re shit at storytelling. 

**Rose:** For anyone studying Mesopotamia, basically he walked in and said that he wanted to stop any rumors going around about mr castiel, and that after talking it over with his brother and castiel, he decided to be honest with us, so he said “castiel is-” and taylor said “GAY??????” and sam looked like someone had peeled off their face like a mask to reveal a tiny golden retriever

**Rory:** and I think it’s weird that he was so surprised

**Rory:** if they thought taylor had guessed that mr castiel was gay, he wouldn’t have been surprised by her saying “gay?!?!?!”

**Simone:** SO THEY MUST HAVE THOUGHT SHE FIGURED OUT THE TRUTH

**Simone:** rory you’re a genius

**Simone:** taylor, you’re fired, i can’t believe he was about to tell us about the conspiracy and you fucking INTERRUPTED

**Taylor:** sorry gang

samwinchester@university.edu to HIST 4890, HIST 4670

Subject: Holiday Party

Hello, students!

For those who are interested, I will be hosting a holiday party for my two advanced classes. My brother’s bar/diner has enough room to hold all of us (though there will be no alcohol served), and the party will take place after finals, on the 8th at 4pm. His diner is the Roadhouse, about a twenty minute drive from campus. Don’t worry, there will be food.

I hope to see you all there!

When Simone arrived at the Roadhouse and saw Professor Winchester, she did a double take.

Was he wearing  _ flannel _ ?

A friendly-looking woman with brown hair stood by his side, signing with one of Simone’s classmates. Behind the counter, another man covered in plaid talked to Mr. Castiel. That had to be the brother, Dean. Mr. Castiel wasn’t wearing any of his priest getup, or any of the flannel that infested the diner, just a comfy-looking trenchcoat over a suit.

A guy who looked to be in his late twenties walked up to her, but Simone didn’t recognize him from class. “Are you in the Christianity course?” she asked.

“No, I’m Jack,” he said brightly. “I’m Castiel’s son.”

“I’m Simone, it’s good to meet you.”

Something about Jack’s mannerisms were strange, but she shrugged it off. An idea popped into her head, and she ran through her mental list of leads. Weird immortals was the most likely, or maybe a cult. Fuck it. Finals were over, she didn’t have any classes with Professor Winchester in the spring, and after that she was graduating.

“Is your dad immortal?”

Well. Maybe creative wasn’t as accurate as ‘impatient and blunt’.

Jack choked on his breath, and after a few seconds of coughing, managed to say, “No! Why would you think that?”

He said it way too quickly, and she narrowed her eyes. Before she could ask any other questions, he gave her a strained smile and said, “I have to go help Dean with the pies.” He made his escape like he was running from a dinosaur, and Simone frowned.

She turned to the nearest students, Dora and Peter, who were wearing equally baffled looks. Peter was the first to speak. “Simone, what the fuck was that?”

“I think we’re on to something,” she said slowly.

Dora nodded. “He’s gotta be Mr. Castiel’s alien son or something.”

“It’s not aliens, you saw how he reacted when I asked if it was immortality!”

Simone pulled out her phone, and sent a quick text to the group chat.

**Simone:** i asked jack (mr castiel’s son) if his dad was immortal and he freaked out and made some bullshit excuse to go???????? Dora and Peter can confirm

**Dora:** yep, watched it all. Super weird. I think prof winchester and his brother stole mr castiel and jack out of area 51

**Peter:** he specifically freaked out at the immortal thing, tho. Its not aliens, no matter how much you want it to be

**Maria:** WEIRD! Maybe he’s just surprised that u asked such a strange question though??

**Rose:** the plot thickens!!!!!

Simone glanced back up to see Jack whispering with Mr. Castiel and Mr. Dean in the corner. She was onto something, and she wasn’t going to let it go.

“What did you say to Jack?”

She jumped at her teacher’s voice. When she turned around, she took a step backwards. He was giving her the What-Have-You-Done-Now Look™, the special mix of disapproval, disappointment, and vague annoyance that only authority figures could project.

“I just . . .” She took a deep breath. Finals were over. Go all in. “I asked him if his dad was immortal.”

Several of the students listening in with the subtlety of a freight train gasped, but Professor Winchester laughed. “Do you know how many students have tried to figure out my family?”

Huh? “What do you mean?”

“I’ve been teaching for years, and every semester, at least one person gets curious about my old books and everything. I’m a bit impressed, this year it seems like pretty much the whole class is in on it. But you could have just asked months ago. My dad liked collecting old books, and he gave them to Dean and I when he passed away.”

The majority of the class drifted off with only a bit of grumbling, but Simone crossed her arms. “I don’t believe you.”

Professor Winchester shrugged, and fondly looked over to where his family was talking and laughing. “I know. And one day, maybe you’ll figure it out. But every year, I give the person who got the closest a piece of advice. Don’t ignore the things that matter on your way to figuring out what’s out there.”

Simone snorted. “All due respect, sir, but that’s bullshit advice.”

“You also get a knife,” he said calmly, offering her one by the hilt. There were symbols engraved on it, and she grinned. Simone always did like having a project to focus on in between essays. She pocketed the knife, and went to enjoy the party.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> This was born out of spite. My (very awesome) friend and I were bouncing ideas around on discord, and even though I wrote the thing, the plot ideas were from both of us. One thing that didn't make it into the fic, but that i LOVE, is that the Winchesters have had to go to college professors in the past to get specific lore, and now Sam's BECOME one of those professors with absurdly niche knowledge. thats cyclical storytelling babyyyy
> 
> also i had no idea whether to call Sam Professor Winchester or Mr Winchester or Dr Winchester even? i swear 30% of my college experience was doing everything i could to avoid having to call my professors by name (the other 70% was stress, of course. no fun cryptid teachers here, sadly)


End file.
